[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press." here on current tv this monday morning. the 1st of july. can you believe it? here we are right in the throes of summer right now, starting off the big 4th of july holiday week. with the "full court press" and the news of the day. welcome, welcome welcome to the program. and look forward to hearing from you on the phone at 1-866-55-press. look forward to getting your

twitter comments at bpshow as always. and on facebook, facebook.com/billpressshow. here we go. congress out of town this week for a long 4th of july break. but we're here to bring you up to date on the news of the day. a tragic story out of arizona where 19 firefighters lost their lives fighting the latest wildfires in that state. just a reminder of what dangerous and heroic work they do for us all the time. president obama and the first family continuing their visit to africa. soon, they'll be moving on from south africa to tanzania where it's possible that president obama may be meeting up with former president george w. bush who is also in tanzania. meanwhile, former speaker nancy pelosi has warned the g.o.p. that they had better pass immigration reform if they have any hopes of ever reaching the

white house. and alex baldwin getting a special pass. all of that and more when current tv continues. at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on!

the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv.

>> did anyone tell the pilgrims they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that

current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: nancy pelosi tells republicans you better pass immigration reform or else you're never going to win the white house back. good, let's hope they don't pass it. hey, what do you say? hello, everybody. happy monday. happy 1st of july, can you believe it? here we go. we're definitely in the middle of the summer season now. great to see you today. it is "full court press."

this is your local progressive talk radio station. morning line-up on sirius x.m. this first hour. only. and on current tv all across this great land, all three hours where we bring you the news of the day. it is a two-way street here. we'll tell you what's going on. give you our take on what's going on. and then open up the phones, open up the social media and get your comments on what's happening so we can all talk about it. which we will this monday morning. you know you can reach us by phone at 1-866-55-press. reach us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. hope you had a great weekend. able to kick back, relax recharge your batteries and ready to go for this kind of a short week this week with july 4th coming on thursday. but we still got lots and lots to talk about here which is why

we've got the entire team back and in place. the team put together for the first time i think in three weeks. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: alichia cruz is back from her vacation from the beach. nice to have you back. cyprian and i have been here all the way through. you know? >> no time off for you guys. >> bill: we're the rock. >> the workhorses. >> bill: cyprian bowlding, of course, on the video cam. everything good? >> yes indeed. >> bill: nothing exciting? >> i've been reunited with my children after not having them -- i drove down to south carolina. my parents have been watching my kids for two weeks. and it's nice, when you see your kids, big hug they're so excited and then maybe ten minutes later what am i doing picking them up? >> bill: they're thinking the

same thing. can we go back to granddad's? i was talking earlier, this was not the exact -- the beach escape weekend you're look for. when i went up to the beach in rhode island over the weekend sat there on the front porch of a house on the ocean and never saw the ocean it was so foggy. it was so foggy. every day. >> oh, man. >> bill: we understand the ocean was there. you could hear it. >> you could hear it, not see it. >> bill: president obama meanwhile with the first family continuing their visit to africa to the continent. they've been in south africa the last few days. there was some hope that the president might be able to pay a final visit to nelson mandela on his deathbed. the president was unable to. he did visit with president mandela's family and then at one event, gave a toast to a man

that he -- talks a lot about. has been a big inspiration to him in his life. >> obama: to a man who's always been a master of his fate. who taught us that we could be the master of ours. >> bill: interesting. i read one article where the president was talking to his daughters, pointing out the significance of the civil rights movement that really was born in south africa and the tradition of nonviolence that ghandi actually was an attorney working in south africa, where he learned the principles of nonviolence, took them back to india and applied them in india and he was the inspiration for martin luther king jr. in this

country. so a real connection between south africa and india and the united states of america which i was unaware of. >> i didn't know that. >> bill: talking about that over the weekend. we got a great line-up of reporters for you over the weekend to join us in going through the news of the day. reporters from the "national journal," "the hill," "huffington post" and the atlantic and alec baldwin stepping in it but it looks like he unlike paula deen, might get away with it. should he? but first... >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making newses on this monday. drama on the lpga tour on the women's golf tournament. jessica korda was not happy with the advice of her caddie during the third round. she fired him halfway through the round at the golf club in new york. she then gave her bag to her boyfriend to carry for the rest of the round. now some people are calling for

her to be fined or sanctioned by the tour. she ended up tying for seventh place. remarkable to note in park of south korea won her third championship. >> why would she be fined? >> it is seen as poor etiquette to do in the middle of a round. she could have just stopped listening to the caddie and just told the caddie to be silent and carry the bag and not cause a scene. >> i don't know. you can get rid of -- >> bill: i think that would have been awkward, too. you know the guy is not going to shut up. >> another big name has departed "saturday night live." it has been rumored for months but fred arm is tan has made it official. he's not coming back after 11 years on the nbc weekend program. some of his notable impressions are president obama and also hugo chavez, mahmoud

ahmadinejad, barney frank and saddam hussein. >> bill: he's one of their better people. >> he's been there for awhile. >> in what cities have the biggest noses stuck high in the air? travel and learnure magazine out with a -- "travel and leisure" magazine out with the snobbiest cities in america based on high-end art galleries and stores and reputation of people who live there. number one snobbiest city in the u.s. san francisco. >> bill: get out. >> followed by new york city. boston, minneapolis and number five santa fe, new mexico of the snobbiest cities in the u.s. >> bill: what are they again? >> san francisco new york, boston minneapolis and santa fe. >> i don't see -- >> bill: i find minneapolis-st. paul very welcoming and friendly. the thing about san francisco people can afford to be snobby

there because it is the best city on the planet. >> okay. point proven. >> bill: don't mess with us. hey, we're talking about alec baldwin. what's going on and whether or not he ought to get -- you know, let him get away with what he said. we've talked a lot in the last week or so about paula deen. paula deen does not have a friend left in the world. you would think. after a transcript of a deposition came out where she had said yes, indeed i did back when i was growing up and -- even in her early years in the restaurant, she used the "n" word and she allowed jokes about of african americans, might have told a few herself and tried to arrange what seemed like a very racist slavery scene for her brother's wedding. she admitted she did all of

that. she was sorry. but anyhow, didn't matter. i'm telling you, the hammer fell on paula deen. we know it. she lost her tv show. i think qvc ended up -- >> they put her on a hiatus. they're going that way. >> bill: walmart and home depot and down the list who used to carry her products said they would no longer carry paula deen products. i thought the cruelest was that her publisher she had a new book coming out. guess what. because of this controversy her fans rallied behind her and her book was number one on amazon in preorders. coming out in the fall. number one on amazon and the publisher said we don't care. we're not going to public that book -- publish that book. she had a four book deal. we're not going to public this one nor number two nor number

three, nor number four. she doesn't have a friend in the world because of what she said. i do think unfairly, i don't approve of what she said. but i grew up in a southern town. peter did too. and you know, when your parents use that phrase and your grandparents use that phrase and everybody around you uses that and you're a kid you don't know any better, you use it and we're all ashamed of it. we regret it. but it was a different era. now, but look what happened. here's the point. look what happened to paula deen. now, let's talk about alec baldwin. here's the story on alec baldwin. he and his wife goes to james gandolfini's funeral. apparently she hillaria, i think her name is -- >> what a name, by the way. >> bill: she is tweeting during the funeral. now, you know, this happens. i have to tell you when i went

to tony snow's funeral at the immaculate conception shrine, i was really shocked. i was sitting -- not covering it but as a friend of tony's and a lot of us were there journalists, friends of tony's and i remember looking down the row, my fellow journalist and everyone wa but me was on their blackberry. they were talking to people on their blackberry. i found that pretty offensive. so anyhow, she was apparently tweeting some -- the british newspaper, "the guardian," a reporter or a blogger there by the name of george stark -- >> the daily mail, sorry. >> bill: he busted her. what do you know? here's alec baldwin's wife at james gandolfini's funeral and she's on twitter. isn't that a disgrace. alec baldwin went bonkers and he comes out against this blogger

who apparently is gay and openly gay and first of all he says, this is alec baldwin's tweet. he says "i'm going to find you george stark you toxic little queen, and i'm going to f you up." then a little bit later he follows up with i'd put my foot -- he says if -- i'd put my foot up your f'ing ass, george stark, but i'm sure you'd dig it too much. you talk about ugly, homophobic slurs. alec baldwin. there it is. afterwards baldwin apologizes, said he's not going to do twitter anymore. of course, we've heard that before from alec baldwin. liberals are giving alec baldwin a pass because he's a liberal.

he's a big liberal. here's hillary rosen you see her on cnn all the time. great person. hillary says what he said was disgusting but he has a deeper reservoir of goodwill among folks because he's been a progressive ally and a fighter for progressive causes for years. alec baldwin gets a pass. paula deen gets the shaft. is that fair? i don't think so it is. 1-866-55-press. i think paula deen was mistreated. but certainly if she loses her sponsors because of her anti-black slurs, i think that alec baldwin will lose his sponsors because of his anti-gay slurs. what's fair is fair. i think for progressives and liberals, we've got to be equally willing to criticize our own as we are people that we may

not agree with philosophically. anderson cooper who, of course, is an openly gay man on cnn has come out and says why why why should alec baldwin be treated differently? why the double standard for alec baldwin? good question. >> i agree. he should have to answer for that. >> bill: yeah, i would an happy man if i never had to watch another alec baldwin capital one commercial. they're the dumbest things on television. he's making millions on it. you know, paula deen admits -- years and years and years ago she used the "n" word, she loses everything. alec baldwin, not years ago this last weekend uses -- calls this guy this toxic little queen and he gets a free ride. is that fair? 1-866-55-press. we've got to be willing and

quick to condemn a fellow liberal. if they cross the line as well, don't you think? let's talk about it here on this monday morning. >> get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

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up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. >> bill: ta minutes after the hour. -- 25 minutes after the hour. we know alec baldwin is a hot head. he has that reputation. remember, he was booted off an american airplanes -- airlines

plane because he refused to turn his cell phone off. people think he's a hot head. that's just who he is. nobody else gets a pass like that. and i don't think alec baldwin should either. what do you say? 1-866-55-press on the social media, peter? >> we're on twitter at bpshow. perry reunion says alec baldwin should not get a pass. wrong is wrong. no matter your political leanings. >> bill: that's my point. >> soul flair agrees saying he should be treated she was or she should be treated like he is. the movement says you bill, are what's wrong with media and america. everyone has to be so politically correct these days. >> bill: am i what's wrong with america? >> according to this person. >> bill: glad, which is -- it is a great organization by the

way, that has always been fighting stereotypes of gays in the media. i've been to glad functions in los angeles. i might even have gotten an award from glad at one time but glad, sort of the watch dog for the media they came out and said we're sorry he said what he said but he's still a friend, he's still okay. glad gave him a pass. he apologizes and they accept his apology. they wouldn't have done that with paula deen. mike is calling from fort worth, texas. mike? >> caller: yeah, this deal with paula deen and everything is ridiculous. for them to treat her the way that she did over something she said 30 years ago, i would like to go back into our president's past and see what he said 30 years ago about the white people. it's ridiculous. this thing with alec baldwin you know, and the press is the

one -- their one minute of glory by putting these people in the spotlight. >> bill: mike, good to hear from you. i don't know why we have to drag president obama into the middle of this. some people can't resist it. i also don't think you can blame it on the media. alec baldwin put out the tweet. alec baldwin is a guy who should be held responsible. dave in madison connecticut. >> caller: good morning, bill. i totally agree. this is ridiculous. and you know, to be honest with you, i'm not just saying this, i'm a moderate, i don't believe in either party. they've let me down. but the left wing comes off hypocritical with this. if you're for the cause so to speak, you can do whatever you want. that's ridiculous. that's what makes it look so bad. that's what makes the left wing look so bad. i'm not saying the right wing is any better. >> bill: i agree. either side, they lose a lot of

credibility. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience

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>> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour already on a monday, july 1 with the "full court press." good to see you this morning. thank you for joining us. reid wilson from the "national journal" hotline along a little bit later in this hour. helping us cover the news of the day. wanted to get back into the president's trip to africa but first, we're talking about alec baldwin and some homophobic

slurs that he tweeted out over the weekend. after his wife was outed for tweeting during james gandolfini's memorial service in new york. she says she didn't do it. she retweeted older tweets or something. i don't know. whether she did it or not is not really the issue. the issue is should alec baldwin just get a pass which most liberals are giving him even though they joined the crowd crushing paula deen. she's treated one way for anti-black slurs. he's treated another one for anti-gay because he's a liberal. no no. >> there were more comments about this over the weekend. one was andrew sullivan. gay man who pointed out that it's not just that he used slurs. he actually called for violence against the guy and you could read this tweet where he says

alec baldwin tweeting i want all of my followers and beyond to straighten out this blanking little b george stark. so basically i want you to find him and straighten him out. which some people could take as a call to violence. >> bill: yeah. anderson cooper also on cnn says it is not fair to give him a pass. sadie is calling from new jersey. what do you say? >> caller: i think alec baldwin and paula deen are apples and oranges. >> bill: how so? >> because paula deen is really not in trouble because of the slur from years ago. she's being sued for discrimination now and that's how they found her to claim that she said that years ago. could be more recent, we don't know. >> bill: but it was a deposition as part of that lawsuit where all of this stuff came out.

>> people are angry because she has workers working in the house and she doesn't pay them and sheilas black workers -- she has black workers using one bathroom. >> bill: why doesn't alec baldwin -- >> caller: the man definitely needs psychological help. i'm not backing him on anything. the man has definitely got a problem but his actions and his words don't match whereas paula deen's actions match -- >> bill: you have to say sadie that paula deen, all of the sponsors dropped paula deen not because of all of the stuff that's alleged. they dropped her because she said she used the n word. >> no. they dropped her because she damaged the brand. >> bill: how did she damage the brand? she damaged the brand by her words. >> she damaged the brand because people get angry. the people i know who are angry at her are angry about how she

treats the workers. >> bill: sadie, i think you're being too tough on her and too easy on alec baldwin. and i think that's a problem. you know, we can make this really complicated and we can -- you know, we can try to factor in all of the other stuff but you've got -- to me, pretty basic. you have two celebrities and one is treated one way and one is treated the other way. people are saying -- liberals are saying about alec baldwin we condemn what he said but we are not -- nothing should happen to him because he's always been a good progressive. look what hilary rosen said. he's been a progressive ally and a fighter for progressive causes for years. imagine what we would be saying today, right if that were sean hannity who said that. or bill o'reilly who said that.

or rush limbaugh who said that. well, damn it, alec baldwin said it. it is just as bad if he says it. josh calling from chicago. hey, josh. >> caller: hey, bill, good morning. >> bill: hi. >> caller: i don't understand why it is such a big deal for either of them. they're just people. just because they have a shiny face on television, i don't understand why their words weigh more than someone else's. >> bill: that raises a whole other question, josh which is today, almost -- you live and die by every word youitier if you're a celebrity or politician today, right? now, that may be right or wrong but that is the way it is. ask anthony weiner. of course it wasn't words so much for him as pictures. you know what i mean? everybody gets called on everything they say and again that's the way it is. i'm not saying it is good or

bad. it is probably bad. if that's the way it is, i think people have to be treated equally. that's my point. victor, last call on this. victor from malta illinois. what do you say? >> caller: i say he gets a free pass because he's defending his wife. any man will defend his wife beyond reasonable doubt. somebody starts dissing their wife, it is okay for you to call your wife a name but don't let anybody else do it. >> bill: oh, i think that's pretty weak, victor. you know, i hear what you're saying but that doesn't give you a license to -- i think to use a homophobic slur and get away with it. >> that's hardly a defense man. >> bill: by the way, she was tweeting during the service. >> maybe she was maybe she wasn't. >> bill: she probably was. >> sure, she might have been. there are ways to do it. whatever. but -- >> bill: that's not the issue. >> if your argument is well,

someone came after your wife. fine. go after the person for going after your wife. but to use the language that he did, it's wrong. you can't do that. >> bill: nope. that's another -- give him a pass because it was his wife? people are trying all kinds of ways to find excuse. >> why make excuses? why bother making excuses for that? >> bill: condemn it. say it's wrong. it doesn't matter whether he's a liberal or conservative. it is wrong. alec baldwin shame on you. alec capital one drop alec baldwin. just a word about -- very, very historic visit. don't want to lose track of president obama with his visit to africa with the first family. particularly significant, of course, because of his roots and the fact that he's our first

african-american president. and the president did explain over the weekend why kenya was not part of this trip to africa. some are criticizing him because that's where his dad came from and you would think he would go back there. >> obama: i have back to kenya multiple times in the past and i suspect i will be multiple times in the future and will continue to be concerned with the progress made in that country. i think it has enormous potential. >> bill: one of the positive things that will result from the president's trip is that he has begun a whole new exchange program with students from africa enabling them to come here to do internships particularly here in washington, d.c. and take those lessons back to the continent -- the president excited talking about it. >> obama: you'll meet with leaders and business and nonprofits and government including me.

and i look forward to welcoming you at a summit i'll host in washington because i want to hear from you. your hopes your dreams, what we can achieve together. >> bill: i don't know about you but you know one thing that struck me about the -- reading so much about the president's trip is -- and i'm speaking personally here, but i'll bet i'm not alone is the ignorance that i have and i believe most americans have about the african continent. we know more about western europe than we do -- a lot more about western europe, even eastern europe than we do about the african continent. i want to be honest with you. i know if you gave me a map of africa, i could name the countries along like the mediterranean. maybe not all of them but i do pretty well with egypt and morocco and libya and tunisia.

am i forgetting one there? and then i could get you down to the cape. that's south africa. in between, which is like this vast continent, i could not name half -- i couldn't come close to naming half of the countries in between. now, they change names a lot. that's a problem right? but still this wonderful vast, rich, continent that was so much a part of our history. so linked to the history of the united states. i don't know anything about it. i think most americans don't. they don't learn about africa in school. >> i feel like i could name a few countries but i couldn't tell you where they are on the map. >> bill: yeah, i would agree with that. >> i can tell you chad. >> bill: no idea. >> the congo. senegal. not sure where they are.

>> bill: no. >> hasn't been a focus. >> bill: isn't that appalling? maybe out of this trip will come a little more focus on that and maybe we ought to do a little homework about it. when we come back, reid wilson joins us on the hotline from the "national journal." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey here we go. 13 minutes before the top of the hour now. the latest numbers are out on executive salaries. wait until you hear. they've just gone up and up and up and up and i'll bet your

salary's not. we'll get into that in the next hour here on the "full court press." this is july 1. this is the day that everybody told us the interest rates on student loans are going to double today unless congress acts so we'll have to wait and see what congress does today. oops! that's right! congress isn't here! uh-oh. reid wilson is though, editor editor-in-chief of the "national journal" hotline. >> how you doing bill? >> bill: can you believe it, the house and senate told students we don't care, right that your interest rate is going to double. what's going on here? >> of course i can believe that. this is congress. why would they do anything on time? how many times have we seen this script play where there is a hard deadline, congress goes over it because they think they can retroactively fix the problem. this was a -- remember, this was an issue in the debt ceiling. an issue every time the various

budget deadlines are missed. you know, no problem. we'll go back and fix it at the end. we've had a couple of times in the last few months where there's some kind of big deal that seems to be close to -- close to coming up -- coming together and then at the last minute everything breaks down. that's what happened last week. it doesn't surprise me at all that they just can't get their act together. >> bill: it does send a message, however right? to the student -- to the collective student body of the country that you're not a high priority. >> i always wonder just how politically engaged that population is. remember, even with president obama's amazing success in turning out those younger voters, you know, his campaign really focused on them both in 2008 and 2012. they dramatically underperformed the rest of the demographics in

terms of age. now, the question is the white house going to be able to coral them into exerting pressure. it has been fascinating to watch them sort of push to make this -- get this usually nonengaged population actually engaged. even the democratic national campaign committee has been advertising in college newspapers in districts where republicans hold those seats. so joe heck in nevada has seen advertisements in the unlv newspapers and places like that. >> bill: reid wilson is editor-in-chief of the "national journal" hotline. you've been writing about the senate passing immigration bill last week. headed to the house where john boehner said he's not even going to bring it up for a vote. yesterday on "meet the press," democratic leader nancy pelosi

had a warning for republican members. if they don't act on immigration reform. here she is. >> we have already passed comprehensive immigration reform in the senate. that's a big victory. i believe that the members of congress and many more that are directly affected themselves by the number of hispanics in their district will do what is right for our country. and it is certainly right for the republicans to say -- to win the presidential race. >> bill: comprehensive immigration reform. do you think they'll pay any attention to what she says? >> no. let me tell you why. she mentions the republicans with a lot of hispanics in their districts. the fact is there aren't that many of them. if you take a look, ron brown my colleague here at "national journal" who sits in the office next to me and i feel like i'm learning by osmosis, all of this knowledge is coming through the wall. he has broken down house

districts around the country in terms of whether or not they have higher than average education levels or lower than average education levels whether they have higher or lower diversity. it is stunning to see the lower the diversity in any congressional district around the country the more likely to is to vote republican. the average republican house district is about 75% white. so this -- they're not feeling the sort of demographic pressures that maybe democrats are when democrats of course, represent much more racially diverse districts. so -- by the way, one of the most stunning things to me this weekend came not from pelosi but from her counterpart, john boehner, the speaker of the house who told reporters last week fantastic "washington post" story on this on sunday, boehner told reporters last week he wouldn't over his thoughts on immigration because it would gum up the process and make it more difficult to get things done. this is the republican

governance. how can you lead a conference that doesn't want to be led. >> bill: that's what passes for leadership in washington today, right? >> it is boehner's specific way of leading on this. he's in a very difficult place right now. there's sort of the -- the republicans who want to pass immigration reform are playing the long game. they think this will get better in 10 or 15 years when they can restart the conversation with hispanic voters. the republicans who don't want it are playing more -- a shorter game looking at their own re-election efforts next year. you know, of course, they have their own policy differences but they practically politically speaking, this is good for them in republican primaries next year. to avoid immigration reform. so two different very competitive politics. >> bill: in effect, republicans in the house are saying this may be good for 2016 but it ain't good for 2014. >> you know, this may be good for the party at large but it is not good for my individual district. that's a fascinating thought. >> bill: i'm at the point right now where i don't think

there is going to be an immigration bill. >> i have thought that for a couple of months now. it seems too difficult to get through the house. >> bill: no matter what chuck schumer says yok -- i don't think the house will do it. reid wilson, always good to have you. >> thanks, bill. >> bill: nationaljournal.com. reid is on top of all of this stuff. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. in the next hour, alex -- alexander jaffe from "the hill" will be joining us to talk about some of the leftover items on the congressional agenda before they left town. lot of e-mails and a lot of comments about alec baldwin. kitty johnson says the man is a jerk. with an attitude problem. he should not get a pass. he should be made to take responsibility for his arrogance. he does this over and over with apology after apology. i refuse to watch him and kring when one of his ads comes on tv. he disgusts me. but kirk points out alec baldwin's disgusting but the "n" word does cut a little deeper.

two more hours coming up, folks.

>> bill: it is monday, july 1st. can you believe it? the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital, booming out to you across this great land of ours from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. the house is out of town. the senate is out of town but we are here to bring you the news of the day. and to hear from you. what it all means to you. 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. give us a call.

and your comments. we'll get as many of you on the air as we can. you can follow us and talk to us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook, at facebook.com/billpressshow. yes, with all of the news of the day, a tragic story out of arizona where 19 firefighters were killed in the line of duty fighting this very fast-moving wildfire in that state. just a reminder of what heroic and dangerous work they do for us year around. great loss there in arizona. so sad. president obama continuing his trip to africa. pretty soon, leaving south africa for tanzania where he may meet up with former president george w. bush who is also in tanzania. democratic leader nancy pelosi warning republicans that if they have any hope of getting the

white house back ever, ever, ever, they had better get on board comprehensive immigration reform. all of that on current tv. iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on!

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>> did anyone tell the pilgrims they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that

current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." belle attention, america's college -- >> bill: attention america's college students, today is july 1. the interest rate on your loan just doubled from 3.4% to 6.8% and you can thank a member of congress for that. good morning everybody. what do you say? it is monday, july 1. here we go. i should say you can thank republicans in congress for that. democrats wanted to keep it at

3.4%. republicans wouldn't go along with it. it is a monday morning. monday, july 1. hope you all had a good weekend ready to go. jumping into this week which is going to be a short week anyhow because 4th of july is on thursday. we can get through this monday, tuesday, wednesday with no trouble at all. good to have you with us as we tackle the stories of the day. open up the phones. open up the twitter account and get your comments. that's what makes the show so much fun. join us by phone at 1-866-55-press. give us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook, be our friend and follow us on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. hail, hail, the gang's all here. peter ogborn and dan henning.

>> good morning. >> bill: all right. ready to go? >> let's do it. >> bill: alichia cruz is back from time at the beach with her family. good to you have back. cyprian bowlding here as always. keeping us looking good on current tv. with the video cam. today is the day that down in texas, governor rick perry has called the legislature back in special session to try to pass the draconian anti-abortion bill which was blocked last week to the filibuster led by state senator wendy davis. rick perry then went out and personally attacked wendy davis saying too bad she hadn't learned from the hard times she had growing up. and senator davis was on three of the sunday shows i think yesterday. state senator davis from texas.

she cedric perry didn't just insult me. he insulted all of the people of texas. >> you know what's offensive to me is that he's made this very personal to texans, overall. he's obviously fond of talking the talk of small government but this is big government intrusion and it is very unfortunate and sad that people's personal health and safety are at risk for his political purposes. >> bill: senator davis said she would be fighting the good fight today. she thinks they'll be able to stop the bill again today. it will be tougher. they're going to be -- they're really going to be watching the clock. >> oh, yeah. >> bill: as wayne slater told us, thursday or friday morning on the show, from the "dallas morning news," bill will probably pass. maybe -- hopefully will be challenged but wendy davis said she's going to be there fighting the good fight and wearing her pink running shoes. >> last minute i was running out

of my apartment, i thought maybe i might need something with a little more support so i grabbed these on the way out the door. these are actually my running shoes. >> bill: she used the running shoes, wearing them on the floor. got a lot of attention last week. >> those shoes -- those pink running shoes are now the number one item on amazon.com. >> bill: get out. really? >> you can buy them. people want the pink running shoes. >> bill: maybe i ought to get a pair. >> i'm all for it. i've -- i'll get a pair of pink running shoes. >> bill: we have reporters from "the hill," "the huffington post" and "the atlantic" in studio with us to go through the issues of the day. and i would like to know how big a raise you got this year. i wonder if you were able to keep up with the ceo of your company. somehow, i doubt it. we'll give you the latest

numbers. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other stories to talk about as you head out the door on this monday morning. l.a. lakers star dwight howard is looking for a new basketball team. he might go back to l.a. one fast food chain in texas really wants the center to join the dallas mavericks. raising cain's chicken fingers has put up six sill boards across dallas fort worth and started a social media campaign urging howard to join the mavericks. if he does, they're offering him free chicken fingers for life. if he joins the dallas mavericks. >> bill: i think these guys play for a little more than chicken fingers. >> i would hope so. >> while some airlines admit to hiring women for their sex appeal as flight attendants, one air carrier in india is admitting to like female flight attendants because they're on average lighter than men and will help save fuel and money.

cnn reporting large women need not apply because the airline has figured out hiring slender females will save them half a million dollars in fuel costs a year. >> bill: and not only that -- >> yeah, right. >> a massive heat wave in the western half of the u.s. did not let up over the weekend. las vegas hits -- >> bill: i just want to say i think they should -- i think they might have a -- apply the same rules to passengers. i'm flying back from providence yesterday on southwest. i'm feeling good. i'm on the window. some guy on the aisle. everything is good. full flight. and then here comes the last few passengers. one of them plops down in the middle seat. he could fill all three seats. and he takes the middle seat.

it pissed me off. so i've got to do this the whole flight. i felt like saying get your own plane. >> a massive heat wave in the western half of the u.s. did not let up over the weekend. vegas hit 115. phoenix, arizona hit 119. death valley hit 126 degrees. 126 degrees fahrenheit. that was just a few degrees high of the 100-year-old record of 134. so hot that some people were using oven mitts to drive their cars because the steering wheels were so hot they couldn't touch it with their bare hands. >> bill: that's why they call it death valley. it got the name for a reason. >> that's harsh! >> bill: 115 in vegas. >> i would rather spend five

hours in 115 degree weather in vegas or in the desert than spend 20 minutes in 85 degree swampy humid crap we have here. >> bill: the thing about being in the heat in vegas is how many people are outside? you know what i mean? boy, they crank the air conditioning up in vegas. >> they really do. >> bill: you walk by and you can feel it just -- >> you just get hit with this wall either coming into or leaving the hotels in vegas. you walk out you get hit with the heat. you walk in, you get hit with the ac. >> people sleep there. >> allegedly at the machines. >> bill: wanted to bring you up to date on the latest. we talk about this once a year and because the numbers come out and "new york times" reported the latest numbers yesterday on

ceo pay. it is a special bug of mine, just drives me crazy. and i'm sure you too. the headline on "the new york times" yesterday was that unstoppable climb in ceo pay. you may not -- you may or may not be surprised to learn. so first of all things had sort of settled down a little bit. last year, compared to the year before right pay went up -- last full year for which the numbers are available. obviously we're in the middle of 2013. for 2011, ceo pay went up 2.8%. that's acceptable. that's not bad. right? assuming they're doing a good job running their company. now the numbers are in for last

year, for 2012. median median ceo pay increase ed not 2.8%, 16%. i don't know about you. i doubt that most workers in america saw a 16% jump in one year. i know damn well they didn't. in fact, wages are basically stag nant and have been stagnant for the last ten years. for most american workers most middle class even upper middle class american workers. let alone those who are still below middle class. haven't seen -- if anything, they've seen their salaries stay the same. in some cases even go down. 16% among ceos. some of the top earners larry

ellison who is the head of oracle, this is cash, $96.2 million. >> nice work if you can get it. >> bill: $96.2 million. that's why larry ellison is single-handedly financing the america's cup race in san francisco this summer. spare change for him. >> you got that type of money. >> bill: the top paid women executive, marissa mayer of yahoo! $36.6 million. >> pretty steep drop-off. >> bill: that doesn't count -- that's the salary. that doesn't count the stock grants or options that some of the ceos are given which are calculated to be roughly 60% of their paycheck. so they've got the paycheck which went up 16% and on top of

that the stock options or the stock grants that they're given which is plus 60%. all of that. where we are today what that adds up to is this. that the average ceo according to the "l.a. times" yesterday the average u.s. chief executive earned -- average more than $11 million last year. and that puts ceo pay in this country today at 231 times what the average worker has made. 231 times. >> bill: i just think this raises a legitimate question. i would like to ask you 1-866-55-press. i'm not a socialist. i'm a capitalist. i'm not a communist. i'm an american. i'm a democrat. but i think the salaries are way out of line and i think it is really worth asking the question

about whether or not there should be a cap on how much money people can make, a cap on executive salaries. or whether or not the -- there should be a cap maybe to do it in another way, on the gap between ceo pay and average worker pay. look 20 times 30 times 40 times, somebody has to be in charge and make the tough decisions and deliver the goods right? 50 times. 231 times? that's obscene. that's outrageous. i mean wouldn't you be happy with like making 100 times more than what your secretary makes? right? or what the men and women on the assembly line make? making 100 times what they make,

isn't that enough? is there any limit to the greed that we're logical to feed in this country just because we think they're that smart. >> by the way if they get a 16% increase why not give a 16% raise to everybody else that works. every single person? >> bill: only fair. okay. we had a good year this year and so, across the board we're going to give -- wherever you are, right everybody is going to get is a%, 16% -- 15% 16% increase. always goes to the guy at the top. pick a number. you tell me. but i think this ratio between ceo pay and average worker pay has got to shrink. it's got to get smaller. i think it used to be something around like 20% or 30%. now it has ballooned to 231. ridiculous. all right.

let's introduce legislation to cut it to 100 times. that's all you're able to make and if you don't like that, screw it. go get a job somewhere else. 1-866-55-press. tell me what you think about it on the "full court press" this monday morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

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>> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: talking about executive compensation here on the "full court press." 25 minutes after the hour this monday morning. before we get to your calls i mention about this -- it is 231 times -- 231 times the ceo salary is times what average

workers are getting. back in 1965, it was 20 to 1. that was considered -- considered standard. i accept 20 to 1. i accept 100 to 1. back in the dot-com days, it was 411 to 1 so it has shrunk since then. still way too high if you ask me. >> we're on twitter at bpshow. one person says the ceo pay should not be more than 50 times the lowest paid full-time employee and the company should have to pay more taxes. kg says you nailed it. it is the perceived value of the ceo that's way out of whack and someone else just says simply, is there any one person alive who needs to make $96 million per year? >> bill: no. what are they going to do with it? build these sailboats these big toys. they can play in san francisco

bay. betty is out in albuquerque, new mexico. >> caller: just this year, the president of france capped ceos in france at $580,000 which is 20 times the lowest paid worker's pay. and you figure that out do the math you're talking $29,000 a year. which, to americans may not seem like a lot. but when you factor in that their tax dollars pay for both education and their healthcare, i'll bet that's a pretty nice life and i say in the end vive lafrance. >> bill: 500 and some? >> caller: $580,000. >> bill: i could live on $580,000 a year. i would have a good life. you don't need $96 million a year. alonzo is in louisiana.

hey. >> good lord. $96 million that's more than people make in three lifetimes the average worker. i was thinking of that guy that you know like the treasury secretary. they used to work for that fund, that brokerage house there. he was in front of the senate. doesn't have any hair and lies through his teeth about them being bailed out. i think they got bailout money. >> bill: alonzo, a lot of the people like that here. i think this whole thing of executive pay is a big big example -- >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." to the fire. are you encouraged by what you

heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: you bet. 33 minutes after the hour now here on this monday morning july 1. so good to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" or welcome back. the congress out of town for a long 4th of july break. we'll take our break once 4th of july gets here. we've got work to do beforehand. congress went out of town on friday leaving a lot left behind. alexander jaffe covers the congress for "the hill," thehill.com and joins us in studio this morning. hey, alex, nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: among unfinished

business at any rate the big one for me are student loans. we've been told for the last couple of months if congress doesn't act, the interest rate on student loans is going to double from 3.4% to 6.8% on july 1. here we are. >> right. >> bill: july 1. >> that shows where their priorities are really because students aren't the ones that will be voting in the midterms so what's kind of the repercussions of not passing a fix at this point? >> bill: last year though, they passed a fix. we were in the same boat. it was going to double. what they said, they extended it at 3.4% for a year. which was like an easy thing to do. if it's so easy, why didn't they do it again this year? >> because they're really not accomplishing anything this year. they haven't moved forward on much. so at this point even the easy stuff, even the stuff we think is obvious has not been able to go forward.

>> bill: so republicans calculate because democrats -- that was their plan to extend it. elizabeth warren has her plan which i think is the best of all to put it through the fed rate, the rate that feds pay for their loans which is what -- i mean the feds charge the banks rather which is .75%, something like that. far lower than 3.4% even. but republicans rejected those because they don't see any political risk in alienating what is it, 10 million students or however many we have. >> the unspoken cause. democrats are trying to make it a political issue. the democratic campaign arm of the house has actually been hammering a lot of republicans on this but i think -- students don't vote, especially not in midterms so how is this going to end up affecting them in 2014?

probably not at all. >> bill: they think they can do it and get away with it. >> at this point there. might be a retroactive fix but they've got so much else coming up that that's going to be tough to see. >> bill: related to that is immigration reform. okay. so the senate works, works works, get the gang of eight together. they get a bill. the bill is weakened in the committee with all of the amendments but at any rate, they got the bill out with 68 votes and everybody thought well, this is going to prompt the house to act and john boehner says no we're not even going to bring it up for a vote. again, they think they can do that and get away with it? >> the problem there is this threat of primary challenges. number of conservative groups have already said they're unhappy with the reform package as is. they don't want to see any pathway to citizenship which is kind of a nonstarter for democrats. that's something democrats have said we absolutely have to have in a final package. they also think that it is a

little bit weak on border control, the current package. these conservative groups are threatening primary challenges to anyone that would come out and support it. a lot of the house members that were elected with the support of the groups and tea party support are just kind of staunchly opposed. so boehner has said we're not going to bring it up in the house without majority support of the caucus, of the republican caucus and that does not look possible now. >> bill: how can you possibly have a quote-unquote comprehensive immigration reform bill that doesn't do anything about the 11 million people who are here who came here illegally and are here in the united states with jobs, with families, members of their community. but i mean isn't that the heart of the bill? what do you have without it? more guards at the border. is that it? >> sure. republicans are arguing that you're essentially giving them

amnesty for the laws that they broke. there's not really convincing anyone that's going off of that argument, you know to some extent. >> ronald reagan, they accuse him of amnesty too. in the '80s. my point is if you say you're passing an immigration bill and you don't do anything about 11 million people that are here, you haven't done anything, right? who are they kidding? but it comes back to -- same thing with the students. obviously there is a calculation, a political calculation that they can ignore the latino community, ignore the fastest-growing block of the american electorate and survive as a political party. i want to play a clip that democratic leader nancy pelosi on "meet the press" yesterday was asked about this and here's

her sort of warning to the g.o.p. >> we have already passed comprehensive immigration reform in the senate. that's a big victory. i believe that the members of congress and any more that are directly affected themselves by the number of hispanics in their district will do what is right for our country. it is certainly right for the republicans to say everyone to win a presidential race. >> bill: if they ever want to win the white house back, they better do something about immigration reform. >> obama won the hispanic vote by 20% in 2012. romney got 23%. it was really low. republicans realize there are electoral repercussions to this. they're just not immediate enough and not maybe clear enough. at this point. but we'll see. that might be the argument that they need. >> bill: lindsey graham said the same thing. wasn't just democrats telling republicans if they want to win the white house, they'll have to do something about it.

>> there was an rnc report after the election that outlined that. it is well-known in the party that they can't keep going down this path with hispanics. it is just -- debatable as to whether they've all accepted that immigration reform is the way to kind of win that argument. >> bill: and whether they -- and also the issue -- seems to be that house republicans really don't care so much about winning back the white house as holding on to the house. >> right. >> bill: so if we talk about the possible political repercussion of not doing anything about student loans not doing anything about immigration reform, there's one other constituency and that the lgbt community which got a big boost last week from the supreme court on same-sex marriage. didn't make it the law of the land in all 50 states but they got rid of defense of marriage act. let same-sex marriages resume in california which is already

happening yet we still have a republican party which is -- its platform is against same-sex marriage. most republicans are. only three republican senators are for it. will there be any political payback as a result of the supreme court decision? >> it will be interesting. it will be interesting to see how active some of the anti-gay marriage groups become in the next kind of 18 months. there is a congressman in office right now who is introducing constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and a woman. tim keel's camp. if that becomes an issue at the ballot box in 2014, absolutely because evangelicals will be the ones getting ought to vote for an issue like that and they can sway some of the races more to the right in terms of primaries in terms of maybe even some swing districts where you know, we could go democratic or

republican either way. >> bill: they use it in 2004 obviously. there were 11 states that had ballot initiatives. anti--- actually constitutional amendments to make marriage only a union between one man and one woman. in 11 states, they all passed, every one of them passed. i wrote a column about this. i was just -- just go to our web site at billpressshow.com. they all passed with an average of 70% support so it was a pretty effective club, if you will in 2004. actually designed by the bush campaign to try to give conservatives and religious conservatives out to vote in that election so they would vote also for president bush. you think it can be as effective this time around? public opinion has changed on this issue. >> that's the question. pelosi also said that in kind of all of the years of fighting this fight, she had never seen so much change over such short a

period of time. so it seems like public opinion is moving in favor of it but i think it's really going to end up being a ground game, a turnout game. can these gay marriage opponents get their folks to the polls regardless of what is on the ballot or not. >> bill: you know what we see happening here, it seems to me, i can't -- i can't believe -- i'm stunned by the fact that republican party says on the one hand, we've got to reach out. we're in trouble. we've got -- we got our ass kicked in 2012. we have to reach out to women. we have to reach out to latinos and young voters. we have to reach out to lgbt and all of these groups that we have turned off and yet if you look at what they're doing, they're doing just the opposite. they're not -- they're not just not reaching out. they're taking steps to further alienate every one of these constituencies.

i don't know where it ends up. >> at the other end of the spectrum, i don't know if you saw it yesterday or it was saturday. sarah palin floated the potential of creating a third party. i think she called it the liberty party or the freedom party. >> sounds about right. >> throw a dartboard at any of the words. >> so that's the other end of the spectrum with the republican party. there's a lot of members of it who think they're abandoning their values. they're between a rock and a hard place. >> bill: this is great. i'm all for the sarah palin party. let her form a third party a tea party lots of luck with that. alexander jaffe is here from "the hill." your comments welcome on any of the above. political implications of the defense of marriage act or of immigration reform. we'll take your calls when we come back at 1-866-55-press.

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(cenk) it's go time! it's go time! it's go time! go time. you know what time it is. go time! it's go time. it's go time. what time is it rob? here comes the young turks go time! it's go time. oh is it? oh, then it's go time. anybody? anybody? what time is it? oh, right. it's go time! >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high.

>> only on current tv. >> announcer: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. david graham from the atlantic and laura bassett from "huffington post" in studio with us for the next hour. right now we're visiting with alexander jaffe from the hill on -- more about what congress did not get done before they took off for their july 4th

break and during the break we learned that air force i has arrived in tanzania. the third country of president obama, visit with his family. they just arrived there and been greeted by dignitaries there. it's expected that the president, while he's in tanzania will get together with former president george w. bush who is there, as well as former first lady laura bush. peter? >> quick story to throw in because a couple of weeks go, we talked about how ben & jerry's was doing their city -- a bunch of big cities were going to get their own specific ice cream flavor that is unique to that area, that city. so washington, d.c. got one. we found out what it's called and what is going to be in it. you ready? >> bill: a new ben and injury reaflavor? >> specifically for washington you can only get in washington

and it's called capital chill. get it? it is chocolate ice cream this is their description. chocolate ice cream with divine chocolate cornflake clusters, marshmallow and caramel swirls served with a sweet potato chip on the side. >> eww. >> what? >> i can totally get with that. >> i don't know about that. out how they come up with that? >> the salt and the sweet. i'm in. >> what does that have to do with washington? >> that's a good question. i know the potato chips are somewhat local but not made in d.c. >> bill: i like the name. capital chill. i can get down with that. not the flavor. >> i'll eat it all. >> bill: you know, we were saying about this -- what congress did not get accomplished. this phrase, do nothing

congress which harry truman most famously used in 1948 and won re-election when people thought he could never get re-elected. it might have been true then but it is really true today isn't it? >> it is amazing to see what they don't do and how much they make for us to write about even in not doing anything. they talk a lot. they spar a lot. but that's about it. they haven't gotten through -- i think you said earlier student loans, immigration, stay standstill. when they get back, they'll have a debt ceiling to deal with. so it will be interesting to see if they can accomplish any of it. >> bill: for week after week after week, they come here and then they go home. in the meantime, nothing's done except naming yet another post office. you also cover campaigns for "the hill," not just what's happening on "the hill." the senate race is in

new jersey. right? what's going to happen? >> that's coming up. so senator frank lautenberg was sick for awhile and passed away and so now there is the race for his seat coming up -- the primary is in august. the general is in october. it is a very blue seat. democrats are favored to win so the real race is in the primary. we've got four candidates in there. two congressmen congressman rush holt, congressman frank pallone and then new york mayor cory booker and an assembly speaker in the state. so cory booker, of course, is in the lead because he's well-known he has something like a million followers on twitter. he's out there all the time. so what's going to be worth watching is to see if any of the congressmen can close the gap. he's got 50% in every poll. >> bill: is that right? way ahead of any. >> right. >> bill: the primary is in august? >> it is in august. right. >> bill: on the republican

side, down in kentucky, you know, there is a lot of talk that mitch mcconnell might have a challenge on the right. rand paul has endorsed him hasn't he? is mitch mcconnell solid or what? >> we've been waiting to see. he is actually getting attacks -- we were talking about immigration earlier. he's been getting attacks from conservative groups. they say he didn't do enough to block immigration reform. >> bill: in the senate. >> right exactly. they've been making a lot of noise about primary challenger we actually expected to have one out there by june. i spoke with one of the tea party folks there last week. he said it is coming, it is coming. we don't want to give away our cards but it's coming. we'll see. there was one person that showed interest. a local businessman but he's fallen off the radar. >> bill: no primary challenge so far. democrats -- is he vulnerable at all in kentucky? >> they're saying he's the most vulnerable. they don't have a candidate either.

>> bill: well, he's not popular in kentucky. he's not popular in washington, d.c. either. how does he survive? i don't know. it is kind of hard keeping track of all of this but it is easier with good work like yourself, alexandra. thank you for your good work at "the hill." you can follow her work and work of all of the great reporters at "the hill." i'll bring you up to date on the president's schedule today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry.

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current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. (vo) this afternoon, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of

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the official arrival ceremony has concluded. now, the president is off to hold a bilateral meeting with the president of tanzania after which the two of them will hold a news conference. he participates in a ceo roundtable this morning and will be making remarks at a business forum. then the first lady and the president will have -- there is an official dinner tonight with the president of tanzania and his extended staff there. the white house has also announced that tomorrow morning president george w. bush will join president obama for a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the embassy bombings in tanzania. one more hour of the "bill press show" coming up.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. happy monday. hope you had a good weekend and are ready to go for this brand new week here, the first week of july, the first day of july. monday, july 1. great to see you and welcome to the "full court press." coming to you live on current tv. all across this great land of ours from our studio right here on capitol hill in washington d.c. congress is out of town. but we're here. to bring you the news of the day. we'll tell you what's going on. what we think about it and want to find out most importantly what you think about it all. you can tell us on the phone at 1-866-55-press. you can join us on twitter send

your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. among other things, we're covering today tragic, tragic story out of arizona. where 19 firefighters have lost their lives were killed fighting that fast-moving wildfire in the state of arizona. just a reminder again of the heroic and dangerous work that these people do on behalf of all of us. great, huge loss. president obama again continuing and wrapping up his trip to africa. he has arrived with the first family in tanzania. tomorrow morning he will be appearing together with former president george w. bush, nancy pelosi warning republicans that they better pass immigration reform if they any chance of winning back the white house. all of that and more on current tv.

>> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the

conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. if you are one of 20 million college students in the nation today, congratulations the rate on your student loan just doubled from 3.4% to 6.8%. happy july 1. thank a member of congress for that. good morning everybody. what do you say? it is monday, july 1. welcome to the "full court press." coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station all across this great land of ours and of course, on current tv. good to see you today. hope you had a good weekend. ready to tackle the stories of today. a lot left over from last week because congress is out of town

so there won't be much happening this week. wherever it is happening, we've got it covered here in our nation's capital around the country, around the globe we'll bring you up to date on the latest and give you a chance to sound off about it yourself by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. join us on twitter at bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. we can't get through the news of the day every day without help from some friends. who are -- who make a living and have a lot of fun covering the news here in our nation's capital. david graham is associate editor of "the atlantic" who has been writing about a lot of issues congress has been dealing with. good to see you. >> good to see you as well. >> bill: thanks for joining us our team here, peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hi, mr. press.

happy monday. >> bill: sir please. >> yes indeed. >> bill: alichia cruz is back from rehoboth. back from a week at the beach. nice to have you back. cyprian bowlding who never takes a vacation. is here making us look good. >> even cyprian is a workhorse. i just had time off. dan had time off. >> bill: my time is coming, dave. i'm planning on it. i'm not going to let you know, either. i'm not going to show up some morning. you're on your own. >> bill: you got it. it was big celebration. we were told last week when the defense of american act came down that it might be a couple of weeks or so before the ninth circuit lifted its stay basically on same-sex marriage. uh-huh. they didn't wait around. let's get it out of the way. over the weekend the first same-sex marriages performed in california. maybe the one that got -- two

that got the most attention were for the two couples who were the ones who challenged proposition 8 first in los angeles. jeff za rio and paul camatti they were married by outgoing mayor antonio villaraigosa. >> this is a special moment. before you stand, paul and jeff, filled with love for each other. let me just say how happy we all are for the two of you. your relationship is an inspiration to us all. your bravery in the face of bigotry has made history. thanks to you ceremonies like this will be celebrated with joy in california and across the country. >> bill: and up in san francisco, the other couple

to women, kris perry and sandy steir were married. don't know who officiated up there. long line of couples at san francisco city hall. they set up extra tables and everything for the americans at san francisco city hall which is where it started back in 2004 i think under gavin newsom. and here's how that went down in san francisco. >> let the rings exchanged and the vows declared symbolize your commitment sincerity and affection and may your love never falter. by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the state of california, i now declare you spouses for life. clear cheer. [ cheering ] >> turns out gay weddings are just as boring as straight weddings. >> bill: we'll talk about the political implications of the

supreme court defense of marriage decision. laura bassett will join us later from "huffington post" and david, we'll get right into it. but first -- dan has the big headlines of the day. >> other headlines making news on this monday, alec baldwin is apologizing to a reporter after running his mouth again. he went after daily mail reporter george stark for saying his wife, hillaria baldwin was tweeting during james gandolfini's funeral on saturday. he called him a toxics little queen and threatened violence over twitter. baldwin apologized through glad saying his attack was ill-advised and has nothing to do with anyone's sexual orientation. he as a person fights against homophobia. >> bill: liberals are giving alec baldwin a pass. i think it is wrong. paula deen loses her sponsorships over anti-black slurs, he should lose his sponsorships in my opinion over anti-gay slurs. i don't care whether he's a

liberal or not. we don't judge people on we agree with them politically therefore they can get away with anything. should not. >> it is going to be a rough commute in san francisco this morning because the public transit system known as bart, will not be running. its two largest unions went on strike last night after talks with management over a new contract failed. the service employees international union and the am algated transit union workers not showing up to work today because of no agreements on salaries pensions, healthcare and safety. it will affect 400,000 riders on the nation's fifth largest rail system this morning. >> bill: i can't imagine the bay area working without bart. >> what's remarkable is -- >> bill: they may as well declare it a public holiday. >> it is amaze they go shut the whole thing down and it still runs better than d.c.'s metro. >> another big name leaving "saturday night live."

it has been rumored for months but confirmed over the weekend fred armistan not coming back after 11 years. his notable impressions include president obama for several years, mahmoud ahmadinejad barney frank, saddam hussein and hugo chavez. >> bill: he's one of their best. >> he's a funny guy. >> bill: how they can continue to lose these great people. of course, they have over the years. >> they always get new people, new crop of cast in. >> this particular cast they had was pretty solid. first really solid cast they've had in a long time. >> bill: david graham, talking a lot about doma. one thing that gets lost here and you have written about it is the man who gave us doma was not some conservative republican, right? it was bill clinton. gave us don't ask don't tell, as well. you write in the atlantic, how badly will doma blemish bill clinton's legacy. will it or will people forgive

and forget? >> i think it's certainly possible it will blemish it. the question is how badly. i think people will forgive and forget but as we get farther away from this, this will be hard. for those who lived near the '90s, the climate is so different from today. younger folks who don't remember this will be shocked at how quickly the politics has changed. it will be hard for them to believe that anyone could pass laws like doma and not be sort of gay baiting. as we get farther away, the major legislative actions and don't ask, don't tell and doma will loom larger. that will look worse in retrospect. >> bill: i'm a huge bill clinton fan. i know him well. i was always stunned. he's very, very smart needless to say. he's not a constitutional lawyer but he's a lawyer. he knows the law and yet he -- with both eyes wide open, signed

don't ask, don't tell and signed the defense of marriage act. he must have known at the time of that these were wrong. >> don't ask don't tell was a compromise position. he came in hoping to have -- clear the ban on gays in the military and said this compromise and what's amazing is from that point to three years later, he's signing doma. even then, you could tell he was conflicted because he signed it in the middle of the night. no public bill signing. he disavowed it at the time. but then of course ran ads in the '96 election campaign touting his support. it was what was exigent at the moment. >> bill: and today he not only asked -- he asked the supreme court to reverse it. and then congratulated them when they did. >> absolutely. >> without mentioning he's the one that put it into place. >> bill: they acknowledged that. >> the thing that he put out saying it is a great day that they ruled that way.

he didn't mention he's the one that put it into play. >> sure. he wrote a "washington post" column in march when they were hearing a case. he acknowledged he had signed it and he said he now believed it was unconstitutional. but i was surprised rereading it last week at how mild his own sort of regret is. he soft peddles that. he points out it was wrong. not a whole lot of personal responsibility involved. >> bill: so is it -- bill clinton's one more time trying to have it both ways? >> i think so. >> bill: okay. i'll do this but then i'll regret it later and somebody else will clean it up. you know. it did serve his purpose at the time didn't it? >> it did. he won every election. >> bill: and that was 1996. that wasn't that long ago. >> it really wasn't. >> bill: the other thing that you've written about is that this movement has really, you know, this change, if you will, has really happened historically

faster than most other examples of social change have. >> it is unbelievable. you look at the charts of support for gay marriage and you think about in 1996, i mean, barely anyone was talking about this. there is an alarmist law relating to one case in hawaii. and now to a point where gay marriage is something that not everybody accepts obviously but everyone realizes it is coming and it is a real thing. and whether it's nationwide or not, it's not going away. >> bill: do you think -- not going away but do you think it is going to move beyond this? >> there have been some people say it won't be long before all 50 states -- >> hrc says five years. >> bill: five years right. which will mean another case coming before the supreme court. >> five years is fast. in ten years ago if someone said they would be able to have this done in five years, it

would sound ridiculous. >> totally insane. >> it doesn't sound insane right now. >> bill: no. we talked about this last week, too. i first heard it from scott pelley on cbs news. the day that the doma decision came down was ten years to the day that lawrence v. kansas came down which meant that just ten years ago, it was against the law for consensual sex between two men and two women. in the privacy of their bedroom. against the law. not that many states were enforcing it. >> it could be enforced. >> bill: and had been in texas which is why -- where the case came from. talk about moving fast, right? we're talking with david graham from "the atlantic" in studio here at 1-866-55-press. in terms of anniversaries too you have written -- wrote last week last friday was the first

anniversary of obamacare the supreme court upholding obamacare. three years now that obamacare has been -- i forget when president obama signed it. >> that would be early 2011. >> bill: yeah. a couple of years now. that has been in place. have we reached the point where we're pretty confident obamacare is never going to be repealed? >> that's an interesting way to phrase it. it is hard to imagine some of the things going away. but it is also easy to imagine them being chipped away at. you no longer see the repeal votes in congress. one of the things i wrote about is -- >> bill: how many more do you need? >> 30 some of those are -- i believe, before the decision. you can see since then, congressional republicans are saying well, we're sick of the symbolic votes. it is clearly not going to work. you can pass piecemeal legislation. you can defund bits and pieces and try to slow down -- sort of sandbag the process.

>> bill: well and there has been a lot of talk about obamacare recently because more provisions will be kicking in, right? >> 90 days or so. >> bill: so republicans are using this as an attempt to -- >> absolutely. people still don't broadly support it. the numbers are remarkably constant. their support is constant. the opposition is fairly constant. nothing seems to change. >> bill: the american people have not really climbed on board obamacare? what are the numbers? i don't remember those. >> you see -- the kaiser poll, i think hovers in the mid-40s or so. the numbers are more complex than meets the eye because some of the people feel that some people who oppose the law think it doesn't go far enough but still, the approval is still in the mid-40s consistently. >> bill: obamacare is it here

to stay? which raises the question about kathleen sebelius once again the catholic bishops are upset because she refuses to take the contraception requirement out of obamacare. i think she's doing the right thing. we'll get into that and a whole lot more with david graham from "the atlantic" on the "full court press" on this monday morning. 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." documentaries... on current tv. for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned great leadership so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up.

>> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: laura bassett from "the huffington post" will be joining us in the next segment. talk a little bit about what's happening in down in texas. wendy davis gearing up today to take on rick perry and that anti-abortion bill again. right now we're talking with david graham, associated editor of "the atlantic" and you can follow his work at the atlantic.com, the good people of the work heedities. david, you've been covering this and a lot of reporters have about nsa. interesting piece in "the new york times" this morning. about how widespread now the collection of data is. you know, we were upset at least i was, to find out they're collecting information on every phone call we make in this country. but the reach overseas goes far beyond and has upset the allies. just reading from "the new york

times," nsa snowden has revealed nsa, in addition to what they were collecting here, they have bugged european union eu offices in washington and brussels and with its british counterpart has tapped the continent's major fiber optic communications cables. they show that 38 embassies and missions of other countries have been on a list of electronic surveillance targets. those belong to italy france, japan, germany our allies. i mean we don't care who we're spying on, right? >> it is all cold war stuff all the time. it is amazing. everybody. >> bill: yeah. this is going to have some repercussions. one would think? >> you can't imagine allies -- i feel like a lot of people probably expect this is going on. once this is in public, they have to complain and talk about

it. eu citizens will be upset. it is going to cause more problems. it caused problems within europe, too. the british are cooperating with us. so you know, it is a whole big mess. >> bill: it raises it to a level beyond just -- do they have a right to spy on you and me. are the countries going to trust us? >> if the other countries aren't doing anything wrong they have nothing to worry about right? >> bill: that's the argument. that's the argument. i think it is going to make it tougher for us to reach agreement on a lot of deals. what interesting times we live in. david graham, you're right in the middle of all of it. thanks for coming in this morning. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about

the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his for us." only on current tv!

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays

at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv.

>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour here on a monday morning july 1. big showdown in texas. lone star state with rick perry. disappointed that wendy davis state senator was able to derail that anti-abortion legislation last week. so he has called the legislature back in a special session to try to force that bill through again. and wendy davis has said she'll be there. going to lead the fight against it again, what's going on. for some insights into that, covering women's issues for "huffington post," laura bassett joins us on our news line this

morning. this monday morning. hello, laura. how are you? >> hi, bill. i'm great. how are you doing? >> bill: we're doing good. so wendy davis has become the new hero, right of the women's liberation movement or the women's rights movement, i guess. >> i mean, yeah. beyond that, i think a hero of the democratic party, you know. whenever she was filibustering it was just amazing the attention she was getting. president obama was tweeting about her. jill biden was tweeting about her. she became a star overnight. it is amazing. >> bill: i was reading one article this morning that's one of the advantages of having tv cameras in the state legislature, right? some states, she could have -- it would have been like a tree falling in the forest. you would not have been able to see her on television. might have been -- some audio version of her speech. but having the cameras there really made it work. >> it made a difference for a

lot of reasons. the live stream was crucial and so many people were tuning in. not only did they get to see wendy davis' epic 11-hour filibuster but at the end of the night when republicans voted on this bill, they said they passed it. you know, but we were all watching the cloud drown -- the crowd drown out the vote until midnight. we watched it pass after midnight. when republicans tried to change the time stamp, it is like you can't do that. millions of people were watching on the live stream. everyone saw it happen. holding them accountable. >> bill: on television, we got to see her pink running shoes. >> right. which people are now buying as if she's michael jordan. everyone is buying wendy davis' pink tennis shoes. >> bill: i was going to ask you if you have gotten your pair yet? >> i don't think pink works on me. more power to everyone getting those. >> bill: what's going to happen today when the

legislature comes back in the session? it is going to be pretty tough to stop it, isn't it? >> it is basically impossible to stop it. it has a clear majority in the texas legislature. i think they're going to prioritize at this time to avoid another filibuster like that. of course, planned parenthood is hosting another massive rally today. i think it is going to be way bigger than what happened last week because so many people were paying attention last week that you know, that hadn't been paying attention before and so now, you know, they're expecting 5,000 or more people at the state capitol today. and i think it's going to be a big mess. >> bill: well, with -- it's beyond texas -- in the sense that what we're seeing i think on many issues is that where congress either cannot act or will not act that the state legislatures are taking the lead state after state after state of

passing these very strict, very severe anti-abortion laws. >> yeah. it has been happening since the tea party sweep in the 2010 election. 2011 was a watershed year. 2012 and now 2013 is just as bad. i really thought it was going to slow down after the election. it seemed like women spoke pretty clearly in those elections. apparently state government did not really change. they took that as a mandate they continue passing their draconian anti-abortion laws and they're spreading like wildfire. i think what's going on is that the states are trying to force the supreme court to take it up again. >> bill: right. that's the eventual goal. i forget the exact numbers. i was doing research on this yesterday. but really this all gets back to redistricting where republicans

very strategically focused on while democrats were busy winning back the white house and trying to hold on to the senate and get the house back, republicans were working at that level, too. not so seriously maybe for the president but they were really focusing on the state houses and the governorships right? and they won those and then they were able -- to draw new districts meaning they've locked themselves into many congressional districts and in the control of the houses. i forget how many states where republicans won the holy grail which is -- control of both houses of the state legislature and the governorship. when you've got that, they can do anything they want. >> what i wrote about last week is wendy davis -- she was supposed to lose her seat to

redistricting. texas had drawn up a plan that would have completely gutted her district and pushed the minorities out. many of the minorities in her district that elected her, she was a single mother. she came from tough times. she's a strong democrat and she won that district narrowly when the supreme court struck down -- you know, when the federal government struck down texas' redistricting plan in 2012, she was able to maintain her seat. now that that part of the voting rights act has been struck down, it looks like her political future is in jeopardy, of course, in case she decides to go for something bigger. >> bill: no. we're talking to laura bassett from "huffington post." huffingtonpost.com. she covers women's issues for "huffington post." what is happening laura with this issue -- came up about a year ago when kathleen sebelius said and the president said in the final version of obamacare employers with an exception

carved out for religious employers will have to make sure contraception is covered in every one of their healthcare plans with no co-pay. what's the status of that now? >> so after a long period of public comment and they heard from women's rights groups and they heard from churches, they've finally announced the final rules on contraception which say that you know, churches basically clarified the exemption. house of worship are completely exempt. they don't have to have anything to do with birth control. what is more murky is religious nonprofits including hospitals universities charities, that kind of thing. they have an exemption basically the third party insurer would have to directly provide coverage to their students or employees so they wouldn't have to deal with it. and a lot of them are still taking issue with that. then there is the issue of the

for-profit companies that have to provide birth control for their employees. many of them, for instance, hobby lobby are owned by religious people who think birth control is wrong and they don't want to have to cover it. hobby lobby won part of their case last week. it looks like that might be something that the supreme court might have to look at eventually as well. >> bill: is the administration backing down in any way? >> they're not backing down. all they really did with the rule last week is they clarified what it means to be a religious employer. it didn't really change much and women's groups were still pretty thrilled with the contraception rule and religious groups were still pretty upset. it sounds like we've maintained the status quo with this decision. >> bill: is there any thinking that maybe if people, more people were -- knew about and were using contraception that the number of abortions would go down? >> absolutely! there have been a lot of studies that show --

>> bill: religious right people don't get it or what? >> they don't care. i mean there is a study that came out that said of course the strongest lobby against the contraception mandate. there is a study that came out that said 98% of catholic women have used bit control at some point in their lives. catholic women overwhelmingly use birth control but the bishops don't seem to feel like they're representing those people and they're adhering to some sort of old school, out of the mainstream idea about contraception and what jesus thinks about it and of course, you have to respect everyone's religious beliefs but we're talking about public health and public policy here and so you know, where do you draw the line? >> bill: well, one place you draw the line is you don't put -- you don't put the catholic bishops in charge, right? don't let the catholic bishops decide what the best policy is for all americans. >> well, right. for women aside from the fact

that the catholic bishops don't even let women into their order. it is ironic that they're allowed to have such strong sway over this issue that affects women's health. >> bill: i'm glad to see kathleen sebelius stay strong on this. it is the right thing to do. carve out the exemption for those religious institutions. otherwise, it should be part -- just makes sense that it should be part of any healthcare plan. laura bassett always good to have you on the show. look forward to seeing you back in studio again soon. >> thank you so much for having me. >> bill: laura bassett that's huffington post.com. on a monday, july 1. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour here. the "full court press" on a monday morning july 1. thank you for joining us today as we come to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and, of course, on current tv. got the whole team here this morning. peter, what's going on on social media? >> quick story i wanted to get in because the aspen ideas festival has been going on and one of the people that sat down for an interview while they were out in aspen was supreme court justice elena kagan where she admitted that she and justice antonin scalia are hunting

buddies. >> bill: what are they hunting? >> they hunt a number of things. she shot herself a deer the last time that they went. and she said she hasn't -- she shot birds -- she shoots birds with him fairly -- you know, two or three times a year is how she put it. so after they shot birds a couple of times now it is time to move on to big game. they went out looking for deer and she shot a deer. >> bill: my advice to her is don't go quail hunting hunting with dick cheney. >> exactly. >> bill: stay away from that one. i don't know about -- i wouldn't picture elena kagan as a hunter. >> bill: i guess dick cheney hasn't been inviting him to go duck hunting as much. at any rate, so one other story that came out over to the

weekend, it is a favorite kind of bug of mine and that is ceo pay. the -- we talked about this earlier if you were with us. "the new york times" reporting yesterday their latest run-down of how much ceo salaries have gone up. now, in 2011, the average ceo salary went up only 2.8%. still out of line but it is acceptable. okay. for last year, the jump from 2011 to 2012 with the median ceo pay 16%. 16%. i don't know about you but most american workers did not get anything close to a 16% -- most american workers are lucky if they got any increase in salary at all.

raises have been stagnant for the last ten years. what that means and by the way the big players -- the biggest of all is larry ellison, the head of oracle at $96.2 million a year. salary alone. marissa mayer, head of yahoo!, the top female ceo in terms of salary at $36.6 million. interesting that the woman only gets a third of what the -- the top woman only gets a third of what the top man does. a big message there for sure. >> huge gap. >> bill: huge gap. in addition to that, most of the ceos are getting stock grants and stock options estimated to be worth 60% of their salary. so if he's getting $96 million he's getting almost another $60 million in stock options. totally, totally out of line.

totally obscene. totally unnecessary. in my opinion. and across the board the "l.a. times" is reporting a companion story that today the average ceo in this country is making 231 times what the average worker in that company is making. the company he or she leads. 231 times that. back in 1965, the average ceo the gap between ceo pay and average worker was 20 times and it has grown now to 231 times. it is no need for -- in my opinion, no need for anybody to make that much money. i don't think anybody has to make $96 million a year. in france, this year, as one of our callers pointed out earlier president francois hollande put a cap on ceo salary at $583,000,

the equivalent of $583,000, whatever that comes out to in francs. you can have a good life on $583,000. i would go higher than that. i would go $5 million $10 million. i could live on that and i could live with that. >> it would be tough, i know. >> bill: maybe bernie sanders is the only person who would ever do it but we've got to talk to him about this. i'm a capitalist, not a socialist. i still would see -- would have no problem with congress putting a cap on how much ceos can make more than the average worker in their factory. and you make it 50 times. pick a number, right? maybe 50. maybe 70. maybe even 100. but 231? that's just obscene.

the other thing congress is saying, talk to bernie about this. write this legislation. if the ceo is going to get a 16% pay raise then everybody -- >> make it across the board. >> bill: rising tide lifts all boats. across the board. but ceo salaries are way way out of whack. most people in this country barely able to hold their own and the ceos -- it is the old thing. the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. boy, do we see it. i'll come back with today's parting shot coming up. >> announcer: go mobile with bill press. download podcasts at billpressshow.com and listen any time anywhere. this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go on this monday, july 1. my parting shot for today uh-oh, another celebrity's in trouble for making offensive remarks. but uh-oh again it's double standard time. yep, the first one to get into hot water, of course, was paula deen for admitting she freely used the "n" word and made jokes about blacks among her friends for which she was dropped. she's been dropped by everybody but her sons. now, it is alex -- alec baldwin's turn to be in hot water for making gay slurs against a reporter calling him a toxic queen. a lot of people are defending baldwin saying he's gay friendly and a liberal and didn't mean

it. come on, that's baloney. we should not let alec baldwin off the hook. look, i think paula deen got a raw deal. i don't know anybody of her generation who grew up in the south, myself included, who didn't use the "n" word because we didn't know any better and our parents did it and we did it. we're ashamed of it now. but if paula deen loses her sponsorships because of slurs against blacks, then i don't care if he's the biggest liberal in the planet. alec baldwin should lose her sponsorship because of his slurs against gays. then, one good thing is at least we won't have to watch the dumb capital one commercials anymore. all right. my parting shot for today. frank rich joins us tomorrow. come on back.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> stephanie: all right. back from vacation. let's take a look at my old papers. what! jacki schechner why wasn't i told there was going to be news last week? >> we knew it was going to be heavy news when you leave. that always happens. >> we didn't know this three months ago when we planned that vacation. >> welcome back. we missed you. >> stephanie: i asked roland to gay marry me over vacation. >> and he said -- >> stephanie: he said yes because in honor